As a leading global bank, HSBC has a wide portfolio of services aimed to cater to their customers and their foreign exchange requirements. If you are a customer looking to send money overseas with HSBC Exchange Rates through an International Money Transfer (IMT) or get travel money, then read on.

From this article, you will

Find the right exchange rate as per your need.

Calculate currency conversion by using the exchange rates

Compare the HSBC exchange rates to that of other foreign exchange providers

The components that decide HSBC exchange rates

There are three main components that decide the exchange rates for a currency. They are:

The currency itself

Type of transaction – buy or sell

Product purchased (cash, travel card or bank transfer)

Before going into each component in detail, let’s understand this better by looking at an actual table that carries all factors. It lists the exchange rates of various currencies on a given day. You can use this table to understand the HSBC exchange rates better.

Currency

The exchange rates primarily depend on the currency you wish to buy or sell. Assuming you are travelling to the US, you’ll need USD, and if travelling to New Zealand, you’ll need NZD. Once you decide upon the currency you need to buy or sell, all you have to do is check the rates relevant to that currency. So, if you are travelling to the US, check the row showing rates of USD in the above table. If travelling to New Zealand, check the rates of NZD only.

HSBC lets you take advantage of currency fluctuations and exchange foreign currencies online at real-time FX rates throughout the day.

Type of transaction

Once you’ve decided upon the foreign currency you need, the next step is to decide what you want to do with it. Are you looking to convert from, say, AUD to USD or EURO or any other foreign currency? In that case, you can check the exchange rates for buying foreign currency found under the column – ‘sending money overseas or buying travel money’. Please note the fact that there are slight differences in the rates offered for each option across a currency. If you planning the reverse, i.e., have excess foreign currency with you that you need to convert back to AUD, you would want to sell it. In that case, you’ll have to refer to the rates under the column ‘Have foreign currency to convert?’

Please note that the conversion from AUD to a foreign currency or vice versa will have different cross currency rates at work. That is, for 1AUD, you get USD at one rate, and when converting back from, say USD, you get AUD at another rate.

Product required

Another factor that determines exchange rates is the type of product you wish to buy. Cash or Travel money, Travel cards, and International money transfers (IMT) are the main products offered by HSBC. As the names suggest, if you are travelling to another country, you would need foreign currency in hard cash or a travel card. Carrying a lot of cash may be risky and travel cards might work out to be a better option in some cases. If you are remitting foreign exchange to anyone abroad, an international money transfer is all you need to do. Another option is to use a combination of all three options depending on your situation.

Are there any hidden costs?

There is a cost attached to these transfers that are dependent on the amount involved. The default limit for online transfer is $25,000 and there is a $25 fee levied for these. Additional fees imposed by an intermediary or recipient bank and also for any amendments, cancellation or for tracing a payment could vary between $20 and $30, depending on the bank.

Incidentally, there are no fees while making the transfer over the phone.

Time taken to do an international money transfer through HSBC

The turnaround time for an international transfer originating from a branch of HSBC to an overseas account depends on the country of the target account. The credit to the beneficiary can happen in anything from one to three business days.

Travel Money

HSBC Australia has partnered with Travelex to provide foreign currency services in HSBC branches around Australia, so you can organise your currency needs while you bank. Travelex is the world’s largest retail foreign exchange operator and serves customers in over 1000 locations. With over 50 currencies available in branches and over 35 currencies available to buy online, Travelex is the first stop over on your travel itinerary.

At Travelex counters in HSBC branches you will have access to foreign currency, Travelex Cash Passport, Travellers Cheques and other travel money related products.

For overseas transfers HSBC charge 3&percnt; of the total amount of each transaction.

Please note that the opinions of our authors are their own and do not reflect the opinion of Best Exchange Rates
and should not be taken as a reference to buy or sell any financial product.

General advice: The information on this site is of a general nature only. It does not take your specific needs or circumstances into consideration. You should look at your own personal situation and requirements before making any legal, accounting or financial decisions. The foreign exchange rates and products compared on this page and website are chosen from a range of products that bestexchangerates.com (BER) has access to and are not
representative of all the products available in the market.
We may receive referral fees in relation to your activity on the BER website however this doesn't affect the exchange rates or fees you are charged.
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